Airplay to homepod dropping when using iTunes on Windows.

Hi mah6786.

If you have already tried removing and reinstalling all of the elements of iTunes for Windows, then there is one more step to take before you would need to reach out to Apple Support directly.

Anti-virus and security software including VPN apps have been known to interfere with iTunes on the Windows platform. If you have any of that kind of software installed, you'll want to uninstall it and test again. Note that you will need to totally uninstall and not just disable it.

If the issue persists with any security software uninstalled, then reach out directly to Apple Support again and ask for a Senior Advisor.

Contact - Official Apple Support

Cheers.

I have the same problem. The only way I found is to use Tuneblade and send music thrue tuneblade to homepod. The program is generally usefull because you can send from other programs other than itunes music to homepod.

Hello mah6786 and welcome to Apple Support Communities.

I see you are having an issue with your HomePod devices losing connection to iTunes running on a Windows PC. I can also see you have done some very extensive troubleshooting.

Given what you have already done, in order to fully isolate the issue to iTunes the best step will be to totally get rid of the current installation and start over.

Remove and reinstall iTunes and related software components for Windows 7 and later - Apple Support

Make note of the order in which the components needs to be uninstalled and make sure to uninstall everything before reinstalling.

Cheers.

I was also having this issue. dimkalgr is correct, this is the only way I've been able to resolve. I thought it was a network issue, possibly inability to buffer adequately or connection being disconnected after period of perceived inactivity. Really wish Apple/iTunes team would get this resolved, as the TuneBlade software is somewhat user friendly, this issue is a detriment to Apple's reputation for providing a seamless user interface when using using properly licensed software and hardware. Might as well get a Fire Stick and Sonos at this point!

I gave up and bought a cheap mac, transferred my entire library, and it works flawlessly now. Something interesting I've noticed is when itunes for mac is still connected to my homepods via airplay but no music is playing, they seem to "go to sleep" and the check mark turns into the same dash we've been seeing when they drop out. As soon as I hit play, they wake up/reconnect and begin playing with the checkmark. It's as if itunes for windows is lacking something to keep the homepods from doing the same even when music is playing.

Mah6787 -- I'm having the EXACT same problem, and it's driving me nuts. I can add that it also happens at the exact same time with apple tv's, but it does not affect airport express 2's. I've got an old airport express 1 that I've thought about swapping back in and testing, but I don't really see the point. It seems to cut out more often after the 2nd or 3rd song ends (once I start playing music) and sometimes comes back when a new song starts after I've missed a few (I can barely hear the music coming from my PC speakers when the homepods are out); however, that's not consistent at all and generally just comes and goes seemingly at random.

Thanks for trying everything you've done so far and saved me further headache. I went through the same thing streaming to apple tv's 5+ years ago and did everything you did just to find that it was McAfee even though I had opened all the correct ports, temporarily disabled firewalls, etc. Once I uninstalled it fully then the streaming started working again. I use Bitdefender now so I'd be curious to know what program you're using.

I've gotten my hopes up after every ios/homepod/itunes software update over the past few months but to no avail. I'm thinking it's a itunes for windows problem of some sort since airplay from an ios device to the homepod works fine (although that may be more bluetooth than wifi). And I haven't called Apple tech support yet because of the same thing you got - level 1 waste of time.

I have this exact same problem since last year. I have 5 HomePods around the house. Playing music from my laptop via iTunes Airplay to any of them results in periodic drop offs - to the point now where I've had enough. I've reset router / bought new router / reset HPods so many times both in the app and by pressing the button on top till it goes red - I've changed channels in my router - turned ALL wifi attached devices in the house off and only had the lap top and the Hpods turned on - NOTHING makes a difference. I've tried it with songs ripped from CD - bought in iTunes - bought on Amazon - all the same. I've been in touch with Apple support since it started - In January this year they installed a profile on my iphone to collect data for the homepods - asked me to write down the times of the drop offs also - which I've done - they then retrieved the data - I'm still waiting and when I ask for an update I'm told they are still processing it all - personally I think it's a ridiculous amount of time and a ridiculous amount of money I've spent - have more users encountered this? I'm on Software 13.4 on the pods. I've also tried everything you have to troubleshot also. G

I tried another laptop (Lenovo) today with an older version of iTunes on there - my own laptop has the most recent version of iTunes. Same problem. So now I’ve also ruled out any incompatibility with HP devices and the current version of iTunes. So, 2 HP laptops - Lenovo laptop and an HP desktop pc. All the same issue. But they all stream perfectly to my Altec Lansing InAir 5000 speakers. The issue is def with the Home Pods. So frustrating. 😭

Chiming in here to say I've been dealing with this same issue with a windows iTunes install and an AppleTV 4K since the tvOS 12 release. At initial release, Airplay with tvOS 12 wouldn't even work at all. They since fixed that part, but it consistently drops out in the manner mentioned (checkmark to dash in itunes).

I wanted to note that I can be streaming the music simultaneously to an older Apple TV 3rd gen, and it will not cut out at all, while the Apple TV 4K will intermittently drop and reconnect (or I can manually reconnect it if I deselect the dash, and select the airplay speaker again in itunes).

I reached out to support several times but it ended up going nowhere, as they said they would not help me if I was running beta versions of the tvOS software (which I enrolled in as a troubleshooting measure).

Pretty annoying issue.

Hi I am having similar problem. I have installed back the Bonjour program which I deleted sometime before. It helps a little but it still drops off from time to time! I am thinking of getting a newer dual bands wireless router as my router is more than 6 years old! Do you think that would help?

Would love to get this problem fixed as HomePod Siri is also not that smart in listening to my voice command! I also found that music plays in iTunes via airplay sounds better than music Siri plays via voice command.

Thank you!

Hi mah6786 (and welcome, Tony_Mak)

Given everything you have done so far, which is extensive and covers all of the basic bases, the next best step will be to reach out directly to Apple Support.

You can reach Apple Support here: Contact Apple Support

Cheers.

When airplaying music to my homepods and apple tv's at the same time, they both drop in and out simultaneously so I'm not sure where the problem originates. The apple tv has the same dash instead of a check box in the itunes airplay selection when it's dropped out. The only thing that works are airport express 2's.